


Beginnings in Color

by animetrash_and_otherstories



Series: Loving Him Was Green [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: I'll write the rest of it later, M/M, Soulmate AU, colorblind au, this is like the intro to a story I wanna write??, this is seriously all fluff, whatever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 06:05:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5774275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animetrash_and_otherstories/pseuds/animetrash_and_otherstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Colorblind Soulmate AU</p><p>Harry and Draco take some time to figure out that they're soulmates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beginnings in Color

**I: Grey**

Severely colorblind. That’s what the doctors told Petunia Dursley about her nephew. There was no “he has difficulty differentiating pink and red” or “he can’t really see purple.” Harry Potter could not see any sort of color. He saw black, white, and a lot of different shades of grey. Petunia was not happy with this and locked him in his broom closet three days for this.

Harry didn’t mind as much as his aunt did, probably because this was normal for him. He couldn’t tell the beautiful shades of sunset apart, and he didn’t understand when people would talk about the beautiful, blue sky. That was fine though, because he figured it was just something else that was “different” about him.

When Hagrid came to get Harry on his eleventh birthday, Harry had already become accustomed to not seeing any sort of color.

* * *

 

   **II: Silver**

Diagon Alley was still a spectacular sight. Harry was overwhelmed with all of the moving photos in the windows and bizarre creatures in cages. Hagrid seemed to be enjoying explaining all things magic to Harry as they walked with their ice cream cones. Harry couldn’t stop looking around; he was still listening to Hagrid talk about all the different Quidditch teams, but as Harry looked over at a group of students buying their books, there was a blinding flash of light.

Harry didn’t know what was happening, it was as if someone had taken the moonlight, put it into a flashlight, and shined it in Harry’s eyes. It was bright, but not like the sun. Harry momentarily thought that he was going blind, but suddenly the light was gone. He blinked, and then blinked again. It seems as though he was teleported to an alternate reality. That’s the only way he could describe it. He looked up at the sky and didn’t see grey. It was something else, something he couldn’t quite figure out.

“Yer’ okay there, Harry?” Hagrid looked down on the young boy, concerned.

“Colors,” was all Harry managed to get out of his mouth, because that was the only explanation for what he was seeing. Hagrid looked at him funny for a moment, before bursting out into a belly chuckle,

“Shoulda known!”

“What?” Harry asked, curiously, “Should have known what?”

“Colorblind!” Hagrid exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Harry looked up at the half-giant crossly,

“Yes, I know, I’ve been colorblind since I was born. It caused me many nights locked in the broom closet.”

“No,” Hagrid looked sympathetically at Harry, before his face lit up again, “I forgot, Muggles don’t have colorblindness.”

“Of course they do! I have colorblindness!” Harry squinted his eyes up at Hagrid, “The Muggle doctors told me I’m colorblind!”

“It’s not the same colorblind,” Hagrid explained like he had explained every other aspect of the magical world, “Ya see, wizards and witches are born colorblind. Not like that Muggle colorblind where they can’t see some colors, witches and wizards don’t see any colors when they’re born…”

Harry opened his mouth to interrupt, but Hagrid continued before the boy could speak, “When they see their soulmates, suddenly…color!” Hagrid spread his arms out for emphasis and almost knocked Harry out in the process.

Harry nodded his head. It didn’t seem like anything more extraordinary than anything else he’s heard in the past 24 hours.

There was a beat of silence and then Harry asked, “Now what?”

Hagrid looked down at him oddly, “What do ye mean?” “Well, how do I know who it is? Should I go talk to her or something?”

Hagrid looked almost sympathetic, “Ye see, it’s not that simple. Yer head’s been turnin nonstop all day, any of them coulda been yer soulmate.”

Harry looked over where the group of school kids were buying books, but they all seemed to have dispersed. He was a little disappointed, but honestly, not too interested. He had more important things to worry about, and Hagrid thought so too. He told Harry that he had some errands to run, but motioned to the next store on the “Harry’s Day in Diagon Alley” List: Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions.

* * *

  **III. Light**

Draco told his parents that he could do school shopping by himself, thank you very much. His father hadn’t so much as given his only son a second glance as he strutted off to Borgin and Burkes. His mother, however, looked at her son with a worried expression.

“Are you sure, Draco? What if we went together just to buy your broomstick?”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Mother, I will be fine on my own. I’ll meet you and father in Borgin and Burkes in three hours.”

His mother didn’t look any less worried, but she sighed and gave him a small pouch no doubt filled with only Galleons, “Alright, Draco, we’ll be there all day so if you need anything just come and find us.”

Draco couldn’t help but roll his eyes again as he walked away; he could feel his mother’s eyes burning a hole into his back, but he refused to look back at her. He was almost _twelve_ and didn’t need his parents constantly doting on him.

He went to Quality Quidditch Supplies to look at the newest broomsticks for the season and Twilfitt and Tatting’s to get his mother a present (the fact that he’s using his mother’s money to buy her a gift only briefly registers). Draco then decides that he should probably get going on actual school supplies and wanders off to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary for his beloved potion ingredients. He practically drags his feet as he’s walking towards Flourish and Blotts, he can already see the crowd of Hogwarts students crowding to get in. He glances around the street to see if he can possibly prolong going here (shopping while still colorblind was quite a task when his mother only likes all of three colors that Draco can’t differentiate to save his life), and is suddenly blinded with light.

Draco was terrified for a moment – he had thought that someone tried to Avada Kedavra him, given the intensity of the light and the powerful feeling that swept his body, but less than a split second later he was looking at Diagon Alley again. Well, it looked like Diagon, but it was…colorful? That was the only thing that came to mind as Draco looked around. Everything looked alive. He looked up at the sky and found it to be bright and…something. It was wonderful and beautiful, whatever it was.

Then he realized, his soulmate was somewhere around here. He was instantly on the lookout for anyone he knew, because he did know basically the entire pureblood community in England (there weren’t too many). Draco then became slightly panicked when he didn’t recognize anyone’s face around him. The feeling passed, however, because he understood that just seeing your soulmate in your peripheral vision is enough to trigger un-colorblindness. He figured that he would have to tell his parents so that they could teach him colors. A moving plant in the window of Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions caught his eye; the stem and leaves were the same color as the light that had hit him. He liked the color, whatever it was. He made a mental note to ask his father about it later. There were too many people at the bookstore right now, anyway, so Draco decided that he should probably get some new robes.

* * *

  **IV: Green**

Harry walked into the store, expecting to get his set of black robes (to his discontent, why would he want black when he could now see colors?), but instead found himself looking at a boy about his age being fitted for robes by a middle-aged woman. Another woman came over to him and smiled, “Hogwarts, dear?”

Harry nodded mutely. The boy looked at him with judgmental eyes that made Harry squirm on the inside, and then he started asking question. Questions about Quidditch and Hogwarts and houses and Harry didn’t know what to do, so he would stutter a couple of words out before the other boy spoke again. The woman that was fitting the boy gave him a tap to signify that she was done with the fitting. The boy didn’t so much as give a thanks as he stepped off the raised platform and walked towards Harry.

Harry didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed it before. The boy’s eyes. They were the color of the light that had hit him. Like the grey he had been seeing his entire life, but shining. Harry then realized he was staring, and made a movement to move away; but the other boy grabbed his face between his hands and turned Harry’s head towards him.

Neither boy said anything. After about three seconds, the other boy let go of Harry’s face, and left without another word.

 _The wizarding world sure is a curious place_ Harry thought to himself as he stepped up on the platform to get fitted.

*** 

There was no way. Draco walked as casually as he could out of the shop, but he didn’t know how casual he came off as. He could feel the world spinning as he tried to rationalize what just happened. The other boy’s eyes were the color that Draco’s light was. That means that he must be his soulmate. That’s the way the magic of the soulmate phenomenon worked. But there could be lots of people with those color eyes. The color of the stems and leaves in the windows of the shops.

Draco tried to look in the eyes of every person he passed by without seeming too strange.

 _There!_ Draco had found a pretty girl with the same colored eyes, but then he realized that it wasn’t the right shade. Her eyes didn’t sparkle mischievously, and the curious look she was giving him was a lot more critical than the one the boy at the shop had given him. Actually, Draco should probably stop staring now.

He made his way back to Borgin and Burkes, and was not surprised to see that his parents were the only ones in the store. “Mother, I got you something!” Draco exclaimed, holding out the neatly packaged container that contained what he had thought was his mother’s favorite colored earrings, “Father.” Draco nodded to his father in acknowledgement, and got no response from the man.

“Oh, Draco, how thoughtful!” Narcissa Malfoy never really said anything with excitement, but Draco could see the softness in her eyes as she open the small box, “Emeralds! I absolutely adore green. They’re beautiful, Draco, how did you know?”

Draco figured that even though he had taken over two hours trying to decipher the difference between the rocks, he could pretend that this was an offhand thought and tell his mother the news of his un-colorblindness. “I am un-colorblind,” Draco was careful to not give away any emotion in his voice, but he was radiating nervousness. Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw his father pause in whatever he was looking at, the man didn’t look up, but he didn’t continue looking at the antique either.

Draco’s mother looked absolutely elated, “Oh, Draco, that’s wonderful. Did you happen to catch who it was?”

“No,” Draco technically wasn’t lying, he didn’t know for sure if the plant stem colored-eyed boy was his soulmate, “I need to learn colors.”

“Of course, dear,” Narcissa looked like she was going to burst from excitement, well, to Draco she looked excited; to any other person, she probably looked like her regular haughty self.

Draco absentmindedly looked at the earrings that he had picked out for his mother and narrowed his eyes. They too were the color of the other boy’s eyes. And the only ray of light that was shining through a dirty window in Borgin and Burkes was hitting the earring just perfect. It reminded Draco of the boy’s eyes behind his glasses. He remembered what his mother had said I adore green. Green…that sounded familiar to Draco. He thinks he remembers it being used to describe grass and gems around his house. It must be a color.

In his mind, the green-eyed boy stared back at Draco through his glasses with a confused expression.

* * *

 

**V. Watercolors**

The next six years were a blur. There was no other way to describe it for Harry. It seemed as though every year brought a new, life-threatening adventure. He found out that it was strange for someone so young to see colors; his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, had told him how strange it was after he didn’t react to them telling him they could see colors their first year.

Harry couldn’t figure out why he loved silver so much. It wasn’t anything special, it was a shade of grey that he had seen for the first eleven years of his life. But at the same time, it wasn’t. It was grey that had life and spark and passion to it. It was the color of Sickles when the light bounced off of them. It was the color of necklaces and rings that people wore and always caught Harry’s attention.

 

It was the color of Draco Malfoy’s eyes.

 

Harry couldn’t help himself but stare. After realizing that it was not normal for people to stare at your eyes (even in the wizarding world), Harry had slowly (and with the help of Ron and Hermione during sixth year) put together the pieces.

Draco Malfoy had to be Harry’s soulmate. There was no other explanation. For the first five years, Harry and Draco bantered and fought like Kindergarten children who don’t know how to express their feelings for each other. Harry secretly loved clashing with Malfoy; it was like he had found his other half. Malfoy had the same amount of passion and drive as Harry, but it was as if he was looking at a reflection, not a replication of himself.

One night during sixth year when Ron had told Harry that he really needs to loosen up and offered him some Firewhisky, Harry had reluctantly taken the bottle, and proceeded to completely down it. That’s how Ron heard about Harry and Malfoy’s first interaction (because what else did Harry talk about besides Malfoy during sixth year? Answer: nothing).

The next morning, when Harry was still passed out, Ron told Hermione the entire story. Between the two of them, they figured everything out. The color of Harry’s light, Draco’s strange reaction in the store, and the “elementary school crush” through “non-stop and slightly uncomfortable sexual tension” stages that Harry and Draco had gone through for the past five and a half years; all of it pointed to soulmates. Ron had brought Harry an entire plate of toast, bacon, sausage, eggs, and even a goblet of pumpkin juice that morning. Hermione had told Ron specifically not to say anything or act strangely, but Harry was so obsessed with Draco that Ron figured it didn’t matter if he told Harry to his face that his soulmate was Draco Malfoy. He probably wouldn’t have even looked up from the stupid map.

***

The next six years for Draco were a blur of colors followed by summers of black and white. At Hogwarts, he fought with Potter and the rest of the Golden Trio as much as he could because it was the only way he knew to interact with them. It was Draco’s third year that he figured out that it was Potter, Harry _fucking_ Potter, who was his soulmate. It wasn’t too hard to deduce, considering Draco had an inkling after first meeting The Chosen One.

His summers weren’t really black and white. But they felt like it. Draco liked to look at his mother’s emeralds because they looked like Potter’s eyes. Well, Draco stopped doing that after fourth year because he knew that once the war broke out, it would be his family or Potter. Soulmates might be important, but family comes first.

By his sixth year, Draco was feeling the pressure of upholding the family name, and becoming The Chosen One for the dark side. Honestly, Draco had forgotten about the Golden Trio during sixth year because he was so focused on his own goals.

It wasn’t until Potter had caused him a near death experience that he remembered who he was up against. The problem was that at some point during their sixth year, Potter started staring at him. There was no other way to describe it. In the Great Hall, during classes they had together, in the hallway, Potter would just look at Draco with his stupid green eyes.

Draco had figured that Potter had deciphered (three years later, and probably needed Granger and Weasel to help him) their soulmate status. In all honesty, Draco was surprised that he wasn’t more concerned. Having Potter as a soulmate paled in comparison to the tasks that he was assigned to do by the Dark Lord.

* * *

 

**VI. Black and White**

He blinked, and suddenly there was no color in the world around him. Draco was hiding behind a fallen pillar somewhere in Hogwarts, and the colors were gone.

 

Harry Potter was dead.

 

Draco is pretty sure that he went into a state of shock. There’s no other word. He put his hands out in front of him, and found them to be white and shaking. Well, he guessed that wasn’t too different from what they would have looked like with color.

He sat there and could hear cries of battle coming from down the hallway and all around him, but he didn’t move. There was no reason to. Potter was dead. The dark side had won. So why did it feel like Draco wasn’t winning at all?

He sat behind his pillar for a couple of minutes.

Then, just as sudden as it had left him, the color came back.

What?

***

Harry had decided on life. He had decided to come back to his loved ones that were still alive. He had decided to tell Narcissa that her son was alive. He had decided to allow himself to be picked up by Hagrid and carried to the front of Hogwarts.

He had heard Malfoy called over by his parents, and heard his footsteps as he walked across the courtyard and into his mother’s arms. He had heard the family walk away, back to their manor.

Harry heard Neville’s speech and knew what needed to be done.

He didn’t think or feel as the last battle between him and Voldemort was going on. He was acting on pure instinct and adrenaline. When it was all over, he went to stay with his loved ones in the Great Hall. He gave his condolences.

He snapped the Elder Wand after repairing his own, and tried to fully absorb the past six hours. His two best friends held hands as they stared at him, waiting for him to say something. Anything. He could feel the anticipation in their stance.

 

“I need to go see Malfoy.”

 

Well, Harry had even startled himself with that statement. Ron and Hermione didn’t look nearly as surprised as Harry felt. He supposed that they understood though. They had been together for the past seven years. Well, dating for about a year because Ron was a stubborn prick. There’s something…magical about soulmates and the way their binds between people work.

“Why don’t we get some rest, first?” Hermione spoke up after a long, silent conversation that Ron and she had with their eyes. Harry was suddenly exhausted. He nodded as his two best friends took either sides of him and walked back into Hogwarts.

* * *

 

**VII. Colors**

Harry ended up “resting” for a week. Or two. Maybe a month. The days seemed to blend together as he helped recover bodies, attempt to clean up what was left of Hogwarts, and avoid the press at all costs.

Every day, Harry felt as though he could just brush off confronting Malfoy another day; but at the same time he woke up with a stronger need to see Malfoy.

He had just caught a piece of a conversation, but it sounded like the Malfoys would be going to trial with other Death Eaters who were caught. That had steeled Harry’s will to go to the Malfoy Manor the next day.

 ***

There was a knock at the door. Draco didn’t move from his bed. He didn’t hear his parents move either from the other room.

Then there was another knock. Draco still didn’t move, and neither did his parents.

“MALFOY!” Draco was startled, he recognized that voice. “I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE. I WILL HEX THIS DOOR DOWN IF I HAVE TO.”

Draco was out of his bed and running downstairs before his parents could guess who was yelling at their door. He yanked open the front door and was face to face with Harry Potter. Glasses slightly askew, hair slightly messier than usual, holding his beloved Firebolt 2000.

“Hey,” Harry suddenly sounded much calmer.

“I love you,” Draco blurted out. He opened his mouth to take it back, but decided against it. Harry looked at him for a moment before replying, “Yeah, I love you, too.”

They stared at each other for a moment, and then Draco stuck out his hand, “Hi. My name is Draco Malfoy. I’d like to take you out for coffee sometime.”

Unlike the first time he had extended his hand, Harry took it this time with a wry grin, “Hi. My name is Harry Potter. And I’d love to get coffee with you sometime.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was super rushed at the end and I wanted to make it longer but I also really just wanted to finish this damn thing that I started three months ago. Hopefully inspiration hits me again in the near future. Maybe a nice look into domestic Drarry after the war?


End file.
